MOG - dubh's Posts

Gruff Rhys' bit on the side

dubh — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 09:51:11 GMT

Browsing mog.com, as one does, I came across Neon Neon, a side project of fave band Super Furry Animal's singer Gruff Rhys. So I immediately downloaded it (from iTunes Plus) - to find an album of perfectly formed 80's tribute music, in fact a concept album based on the life of 80's icon John DeLorean. Fucking brilliant, and so typical of Mr Rhys's offbeat genius.

bright grey

dubh — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 09:57:52 GMT

This is probably my song of the year. I can't stop listening to it.

I love it. I love how it sounds like all my favourite Dunedin songs (anything by the Verlaines, maybe) rolled up together, cycling around and around in minor chords until... suddenly... there's a full chorus.

Chords change, the sun comes out, it's bright grey, but even so, all is well with the world, and the girls and I dance around the lounge singing "ooo-ooo" like a small troupe of blond monkeys.

And then we play it again.

two films to look forward to

dubh — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 19:14:02 GMT

Jef Aérosol 2007 - London - Ian Curtis
Photo Originally uploaded by Jef Aerosol I saw trailers for two films via Boing Boing last week.

The first I am _very_ excited about: a biopic of Ian Curtis. It's amazing how the man and his music still thrill after all these years. Just watching the admittedly very beautiful trailer (the film is shot by Anton Corbijn in black and white) and hearing the opening bars of _She's Lost Control_ made me break out in goosebumps. I'm not the only one - it's getting pretty good reviews thus far.

You can see the trailer here in a silly flash-based website ... or better yet just gank the trailer file for yourself here and watch it with VLC (or other FLV viewer) on full screen, over and over and over.

Hopefully the film lives up to the hype.

The other film is by/about Sigur Rós. Maybe I'm setting myself up for a big disappointment here... but what is ostensibly a live DVD from a recent summer tour appears to be, from the trailer at least, an astonishingly beautiful travelogue of Iceland set to their astonishingly beautiful music. Again, download the trailer directly and play full screen, over and over and over.

And don't bother with the YouTube versions of either trailer. Go for the real thing. They won't disappoint.

riding the tiger?

dubh — Tue, 29 May 2007 08:10:09 GMT

"...two three hey RIDE THE TIGER down RIVER EUPHRATES..."

Does this song make you think of Iraq? Go ahead and listen to it again, my friends. And try to deny it.

I wonder if it gets played over there, in the hummers and APCs.

Riding the TIGER.

On the other hand, some people think Frank is singing "RIDE THE TIRE". Yeah right.

I'll check.

Oh. The tire people are right. Damn.

eighteen seconds before sunrise

dubh — Tue, 08 May 2007 09:16:31 GMT

For the first time in a long while I walked to work. And it was GREAT.

The view from my usual lookout spot was particularly fine, correctly presaging a mild, clear and glassy calm day.

Just like those days of May twenty years ago.

I turned and started walking down the hill... and at that moment the sun broached the Rimutaka Ranges, illuminating the road and houses in a golden glow that seemed to transmute them into a gentle hyperreality of enhanced possibility.

And yes, I _just happened_ to be listening to Sigur Rós, the music tracking this little moment of minor magic among the suburban ordinary.

Spoiled only slightly a few minutes later when the iPod battery ran out.

And so off to work I continued.

mashes of the year: 2006

dubh — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 08:05:22 GMT

The end of the year is nigh... and so it becomes time for lists of stuff to fill out those uncomfortable pauses before Christmas.

Throughout the year I've been checking in on my favourite mash meisters, and of course Mashculture too. I've downloaded lots of stuff: some good; some great; some appallingly bad. This is all part of the fun. Out of all this hard work (coff!) I present here a modest list of 10 tracks that are available at the time of writing.

Maybe I should start with the most awful, the most appalling, and nauseating mashup I've found this year.

Ex-dublxero - _Rolf Harris Touches Himself Every Time He Thinks About YOU!_ - Someone, somewhere, taped Mr Harris reciting the words to that dumbarse Divinyls song. Ex-dublxero has found this, and then put a backing to it. The result has to be heard to be believed, revolting like a kindly uncle heavy breathing in your ear, but at the same time, funny as hell. One to er, "enjoy". Link

And now onto the list proper... in no particular order (because I'm finding it hard to rank this stuff!).

Divide & Kreate - _Always With You_ - I should hate this. I should. I even hate myself for liking this. But Willie's _Always on my Mind_ sounds strangely beautiful and tragic juxtaposed with U2's _With or Without You_. Link.
Please, if you don't like this, or even the very thought of Willie Nelson turns your stomach, please go visit Divide & Kreate's website - there's a full range of other great stuff there (like the cool mash of Eurythmics _Sweet Dreams_ and Franz Ferdinand's _Jacqueline_ among others).

fuTuRo - _Keep Tomorrow Hanging_ - A good example of how mashups aren't just about the music, but picking the lyrical content too. A mash of The Supremes _You Keep Me Hanging On_ vs the Stereophonics _Maybe Tomorrow_, with the lyrics interspersed to tell both sides of the story. Link.

Martinn - _Papa was a Rose of Stone_ - Martinn reclaims the rhythmns of The Stone Roses _Fool's Gold_ for soul. I'm a bit of a sucker for the music of my youth mixed up with anything else, really. Link.

Party Ben - _Pump Up The Doorbell_ - That old classic _Pump Up The Volume_ mixed with the White Stripes _Doorbell_. The girls and I often put this track on loud and dance around the living room. They've even started singing the lyrics; and I rushed out and bought the White Stripes album thinking it might be all as good as this. I'm sorry, but I don't think so. Link.
Party Ben's also done a whole heap of other good stuff this year like _Hung Up On Soul_, a mix of Madonna and Death Cab for Cutie (but the clincher with this track being the uplifting little run of Abba in the chorus!) and _Doncha / Seether_ (Pussycat Dolls / Veruca Salt - amusing, but not for the kids though).

Tigerbluemusic - _Another Beautiful Summer_ - I suppose this one is a bit obvious (James Blunt vs. Snoop Dogg) for the better travelled. It's not obvious for me as I haven't been over-exposed to either of the songs mixed here (I live under a rock, and also I never listen to the radio). Very sweet. Link.

Bug - _Johnny Be Good to Frankie_ - This is about as old-skool as you can get: Johnny Cash's _Johnny & Frankie_ vs. Jerry Lee Lewis _Johnny Be Good_. It works. Link.
Unfortunately I don't seem to be able to find Bug's website though - if anyone knows, let me know and I'll link here.

Team 9 - _Crazy Times_ - As you guessed, _Crazy_, but mixed with Prince's _Sign of the Times_. Like the Snoop/Blunt mash above I'm probably the only one who will think this is cool, mainly because I haven't heard _Crazy_ enough to be sick of it. Link.

A plus D - _Love Will Tear You Apart / She Wants Originality (She Wants Revenge vs. Joy Division vs. Bauhaus)_ - This one is amazing. I'd not heard the original Bauhaus song before but the Joy Division one has resonated with me for 25 years now. Together these make one hell of a spooky mix of obsessive, violent love. And there's lots more good stuff on the A plus D site too. Link

DJ Zebra - _Crystal Javanaise_ - New Order! Serge Gainsbourg! How can we go wrong? DJ Zebra cannot, bringing a welcome cool French vibe to his many great tracks. Link.

DJ Earlybird - _Hell of a Heavenly Bang Bang_ - Another tale of obsessive, violent love that all goes horribly wrong. The testosterone power of Black Sabbath vs. the deeply sad sounding Nancy Sinatra. These two seem to go together in a way all too reflective of the real world. Link.
Earlybird is not only prolific, but crazy with it. Diana Ross _Upside Down_ with the Dead Kennedies _Too Drunk to F--k_, anyone?

Honourable mention:

Team 9 - _Loaded vs. Oops, Oh My_ - This is actually my favourite Mash this year, even though it's a bit old. It doesn't make the list because Team 9, under his continual refresh policy, has taken it down since I found it in September. Primal Scream's _Loaded_ is one of my all time favourite songs: a formative musical experience of mine was listening to this 12" for the first time, down in the Dunedin record shop that had just got its monthly shipment of import vinyl in, and I was hearing that those weedy Scots popsters turned grungy rockers had suddenly gone 90 degrees left into dance music and it was effin good. Now, Team 9 have taken that music and returned it to its roots by grafting a really nice sexy dirty soul vocal on it. So, so good.

And that's it. If, at the end of this, you're still looking for more, here's some handy links:

My list from 2005.
Culturebully's Mashes of the Year for 2005 and 2006 for two interesting and cool lists with no overlap with mine whatsoever. I'll be downloading his 2006 list shortly.
The Best of Bootie 2005. I hope they do another one for 2006 - there are around 20 cracking tracks on here, all of which I've purposely avoided including in my list above as you should just download the whole album instead. The standout for me is Cheekyboy's Nirvana vs. NWA mash _Smells Like Compton_.

So, what are you waiting for? Download and mix your own list: and let me know when you're done!

[Reposted from my blog. I need to figure out how to send the same stuff in two directions at once...]

Cryndod Yn Dy Lais

dubh — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 08:42:09 GMT

I've had a busy week at work. Luckily for me it is socially acceptable there to slam the headphones on (some nicely responsive Sennheiser noise cancelling ones to drown out the mundane roar of the crowded office) at times of need, and listen to sustaining music.

This way, it's possible to tune out a little and concentrate on the task at hand... and all the while enjoying fewer interruptions (as generally wearing the headphones seems to approximate the Japanese practise of wearing a hachimaki and people respect that you maybe would prefer not to be disturbed).

For much of this week I've had the iPod on shuffle over the entire works of the Super Furry Animals - for me, about 156 tracks. And it's been great.

There's such huge variation in their catalogue (around their central musical styles and themes) that I can't get bored. And occasionally, in between the albums and singles, there are b-sides of such aching beauty that they linger in that little part of your brain that provides the soundtrack for the times when you aren't listening to music. Out they come, while you walk to work, or cook dinner, little snatches of verse and lyrics to fill those blank spaces.

One such is _Cryndod Yn Dy Lais_, a b-side from the _Play It Cool_ ep from 1997. (You can download it, plus some others recorded in an acoustic session by Gruff Rhys for a French radio station, here.)

It's sung in Welsh, like many of the Super Furries' songs. This matters not a bit. You can feel the emotions that Gruff invests in this song.

I had not thought to seek out a translation before doing a little research. It turns out that the song title means "The trembling in your voice", something that seems obvious in retrospect give the way the song is sung.

Anyway, have a listen. And then again.

bouge avec offspring

dubh — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 09:20:06 GMT

And now another very entertaining mash, this time from Paris-based DJ Zebra. You can download this track, and many others (including my other favourite, a gentle rap-reggae reworking of New Order's _Crystal_ together with French legend of pop Serge Gainsbourg) from his site here.

Anyway, Bouge avec Offspring is a nice amalgam of the fun-but-dumb power-pop of the Offspring with some very smooth and assured French rap. I know nothing about Triptik, and next to nothing of the Offspring, but I _really_ love this track.

(Incidentally: MOG seems to have a lot of trouble with stuff that isn't in its - or GraceNote's - database. It gets it half right on a lot of these mashes, about half the time. Why can't it just use the my tags or MP3 data?)

smells like compton

dubh — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 09:06:55 GMT

More mash-up action, this time the most famous songs from two icons of the late '80s early 90's in very different spheres that in those days met less often than they do today.

Somehow these two tracks go really well together. You can get this, and many more, from Cheekyboy's website here.

One of the cool things about mashups is the hunt for the next good one: it's a minor obsession with me. Almost all the DJs have websites (or less fruitfully, MySpace sites) and it's just a matter of tracking them down. More on this shortly.

primal tweet

dubh — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 10:38:46 GMT

Team 9 are the Aussie half of the infamous Dean Gray. Seek them (him? her? who cares) here and download and enjoy some rather sweet mash-ups, like this one of an all-time favourite ever song, Primal Scream's _Loaded_, with Tweet's _Oh My_ .

I say this like I know who Tweet is, but I don't. One side effect of mashups is an involuntary broadening of the musical horizons - after all, how else would I ever have started appreciating 50 Cent without having it leavened with a large helping of Queen's familiar (if not exactly favoured) taste?

I love this stuff.

Rediscovery

dubh — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 09:12:45 GMT

Since signing up for Mog yesterday I've become inspired to dig out some of the older stuff I've got that has never quite made it onto my iPod so far. Like this wonderful Billy Bragg album, a nice mix of the old style busking guitar and the newer more rocked up stuff (if that's the right way to call it). Some real gems in there, like this song, about a real-life football player (ok, "soccer" for most of the anglo world outside the UK):

He scores goals on a Saturday
And saves souls on a Sunday

So, I'm rediscovering this album, which I can't have played in at least three or four years. And it's good. Better than good, in fact.

It's been years since you came to New Zealand Billy. How about it?

Where is my mind?

dubh — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 10:06:19 GMT

Waaaay out/ In the water / See it swimming

I know the songs. And I still love them, and play them, all of them: such songs to turn over like a diamond in your fingers, a diamond made of the coal dust of rock'n'roll by the incredible heat and light of the Pixies.

A soundtrack to some (mildly) turbulent an uncertain years. I never did see them live. But some things were not to be, even reunion tours.